Creed testified at last - Erolfa / Tabarome / Silver Mountain Water

Hi there,

I've sniffed Creed today at last. The SA was very eager to pull me in. Each scent was accompanied by a story of what it shoulld resemble.

Erolfa: seabreeze - o/k, not for me. No salt nothing but some nasty aromachemicals. I didn't get the picture. I honestly tried, really! It was just a "No", I came back to it later and it stayed just that. May be I've lost the personal reference of my own Atlantic experiences, but that's quite improbable. May be the imagination is wrong on that, and it isn't meant that way at all. But, I just didn't get it.

Silver Mountain Water: a waterfall in the Rockies according to the SA - not for me. It was a pale aldehydic sparkled and tamed at once by helional or something. Very unpleasent due to its overt chemical construction that was additionally felt as simple. I'm not the perfect nose, so take care! I must have missed something, it was just very plain without a knack. No pine or something. Just dry flowerish aldehydes plus don't know.

Tabarome (don't exactly know which, but should have cost 150++$, millisime?): Tabacco - o/k, I've got some fermented leaves, that is a picture that fits. Underneath there is something dry. A not too overt layer of aroma, maybe cold ash? The best so far. But the top was drenched in alcohol, synthetic. That might occure with natural smells as well, if isolated (violet leaves). In this case I was sure, that this Tabarome is an utter contemporary concoction, means 1980+, not vintage or ancient.

But then We went over to Lubin, Idole: rum plus orange plus something that filled it up. To polished for my taste.

The SA went crazy on me. The Xclusive line of Nassamoto for an other price tag. I liked it. And it went on, the Creeds were all forgotten. Then at last I saw the Caron line there. Let's sniff a reference! Yatagan: great on the first sniff and it remained so while the Nassamoto devoloped camphorous aspects in comparison, unbalanced was my verdict then. Caron 3rd man: wowey, how beeeuutyfull BIG SMILE!

I came back to Erolfa, that was worse than in the beginning, sniffed some Xclusive Nassamoto including Black Afghane that smelled of patchouli plus woody amber. He never inhaled for sure ...

Conclusion: in spite of visiting a shop of tremendous possibilities the classics outperformed the Xclusive line of Nassamoto and the so often promoted Creed by lengths. It was not only that the Carons were more familiar, but they brought the message just to the point, they were complex, balanced, hence "natural" of a kind.

O/k, at least I went home with Comme Des Garcons #53. Good shop, really. Didn't get the Creeds. To simple at last, but isn't every fragrances prize tag pervert?

Sorry to hear you didn`t like the Creeds. Both Erolfa and Tabarome Millesime are some of my favourite fragrances. Yes, Erolfa smells a bit strange if you only smell it from the bottle. You have to test it on your skin, to get the real experience with Erolfa. I absolutely love the smell of real sea-salt/ sea-breeze, and I think Creed has manage to capture that experience in Erolfa. Tabarome Millesime is also a wonderful scent. English club luxury at its best! Fresh and warm at the same time. Extremely elegant.

Man lol I personally don't see all the hype that follows Creed. I have done plenty of video reviews on them and people actually hate me for them. They are just like any other niche company when you really think about it they just have a lot of fanboys. Most of these niche companies will only have 1 or 2 fragrances(if any) that any one person may really like.

SMW- Ink and silverwear.... nuff said and its unique but not really the best to actually wear around... atleast not at my age.

Erolfa- Nice BUT I will spend my $$$ on Bvlgari AQVA and AQVA Marine way before I buy Erolfa for $250-$280.

Tabarome- A lot fo ppl like this and I can see why but for me I get public restroom toliet water/urinal scent. BUT if your into english scents I heard this is the way to go.

I personally like VIW and MI but neither have enough projection or longevity for me to wear. IMO its an really over-hyped house.

Dude lets get real, maybe you fantasize about the 'golden years' and 'le french perfumes' a bit too much...Carons 3rd homme, while a good frag, has far from the best materials...the jasmine is hedione maxed out, its base is full of synthy 'cedar/moss' amped to the max, and the current formulation has seen better days. Lets bring out the current formulation Guerlains, Carons, etc and we both can dissect them together...

The most ironic fact in your post is that despite your anti-Creed and anti-synth tirade, you went home with a bottle of CdG Odeur 53 (a total lab and detergent product).. this + considering your lambasting Creed in the Aventus thread cant really take any of your reviews seriously.

Man lol I persoanlly don't see all the hype that follows Creed. I have done plenty of video reviews on them and people actually hate me for them. They are just like any other niche company when you really think about it they just have a lot of fanboys. Most of these niche companies will only have 1 or 2 fragrances(if any) that any one person may really like.

SMW- Ink and silverwear.... nuff said and its unique but not really the best to actually wear around... atleast not at my age.

Erolfa- Nice BUT I will spend my $$$ on Bvlgari AQVA and AQVA Marine way before I buy Erolfa for $250-$280.

Tabarome- A lot fo ppl like this and I can see why but for me I get public restroom toliet water/urinal scent. BUT if your into english scents I heard this is the way to go.

I personally like VIW and MI but neither have enough projection or longevity for me to wear. IMO its an really over-hyped house.

oh man. i couldnt agree more. Especially on Basenotes, Creed is like royalty and Green Irish Tweed. It just smells identical to Cool Water to me and thats just not my particular taste. is the king. Everyone has there own taste though. Ill admit i do kinda like VIW but not enough to bring out the big bucks for it

p.s. im actually very eager to try Bois Du Portugal because ive read that that is the fragrance Frank Sinatra wore, and hes my idle

I had a Creed SMW. I kept the empty bottle. whenever i sniff it, and i compare it to another my fragrances, i'm going to be sure that it should be my signature. It just have a little problem: Short lasting in my skin.
I didn't see very special, and good Aromatic like it in this category.

You know...my first time through the Creed colognes sniffin' like mad 101 pieces of paper. I, too, felt like it was an overrated house. Mostly because that stinkin' house note that seemed to pop up more often than not. I didn't like it. After trying a number of them out again on paper, a few on the skin, my opinion started to change. Most of their offerings are overrated but there are a number of them I'd consider wearing. Even the house note, framed well, amongst the other notes can be an addition.

I still don't get the hubbub about GIT but I also feel that way about Cool Water. Too many of the more popular frags in their line up fail to move me in any way as well. I do like a few and it seems to be the less appreciated ones. Which is to my benefit cause I've been able to score them as cheap if not cheaper than the designer counterpart's colognes.

All the fragrance makers, designer or niche, are making a killing on these pennies worth of materials, a dollar worth of packaging and Way too much of marketing. Although in the grand scheme of things people pay way more per use on hundreds of products every day.

You look at the hefty price tag all up front at once and cringe but a $3 latte 200-300 times a year is more expensive than a $250 dollar bottle of cologne that might last you the same amount of time. You'll complain about the expensive cologne not lasting longer than 4-5 hours on your skin but have no problem with the 30 minute consumption time on that latte and the couple hours of subsequent buzz for more money on less return.

It's all relative in the big picture. I, too, want to pay as little as possible at every opportunity but I'm not going to fool myself into believing that it doesn't happen in other parts of my daily routine that I spend more money per use than I would on a niche cologne if I even paid full retail price for it.

I personally like quite a few Creeds. Erolfa just doesn't have the sillage or longevity for me to consider it though. I know that Brandon always refers Silver Mountain Water to ink and silverware (which are viable references) but I really like it for the cool, crisp Aspen air with the river running through it vibe. Plus the college age females that I have to work around always like it too.

Idole, I love this. It's the more authentic, refined, niche version of a Burberry London. London is good, but Idole is deep and polished. It does really take you to the islands with a warmth and voodoo feeling. Creed VIW is straight up suntan lotion and drinks with tiny umbrellas compared to this. Completely polar opposite scents.

Did you try Nassamoto Duro? To me it's an intense version of something like Cuir Ottoman. I love the bottle, but not my favorite scent. I'm still going to give Afghano a try.

Anyhow, sorry they didn't float your boat. That's part of what makes fragrances so unique. They work amazing for some people, but terrible on the next guy.

Dude lets get real, maybe you fantasize about the 'golden years' and 'le french perfumes' a bit too much...Carons 3rd homme, while a good frag, has far from the best materials...the jasmine is hedione maxed out, its base is full of synthy 'cedar/moss' amped to the max, and the current formulation has seen better days. Lets bring out the current formulation Guerlains, Carons, etc and we both can dissect them together...

The most ironic fact in your post is that despite your anti-Creed and anti-synth tirade, you went home with a bottle of CdG Odeur 53 (a total lab and detergent product).. this + considering your lambasting Creed in the Aventus thread cant really take any of your reviews seriously.

I'm not that anti-synth as You take my discussion of my very personally feelings with the Creed scents. I'm no way the good nose to imagine all what is supposed to be in a Creed. I just get some more or less simple impression and then judge by my taste. Do I like it? I didn't like Lubins IDOLE (right spelling?) for its polished "texture". I didn't like the Nassamoto of a name not recalled now. The Black Afghane was a joke to me - I know the real stuff all to well as a trained Police Investigator.

I liked the sunny friendly not so complicated feel about the Caron 3rd man. It was on the spot something that lifts the mood, a "may-I-come-closer-to-sniff-it"-thing. It is such a good idea to combine jasmine with sandlewood and vanilla (to me) despite of any quality issues, natural or not. And utterly balanced. Well done. Not exactly a masterpiece, but - hey it's FUN!

Alas, I didn't get the Creeds. Sorry, but that is the honest truth. I could not reconstruct what the idea was, nor could I just enjoy the result as is.

The idea of #53 of CDG is no mystery at all. It is anti perfume. As I own such a lot of classics, I see no use in stocking up generic ideas and minor niches. My greed seems to go strange ways. However I now want to spritz every day that signature NO scent. As everybody smells of natural things believed to be beautyfull on their own I'll pull people into my sphere by just not doing so.

The idea of #53 of CDG is no mystery at all. It is anti perfume. As I own such a lot of classics, I see no use in stocking up generic ideas and minor niches. My greed seems to go strange ways. However I now want to spritz every day that signature NO scent. As everybody smells of natural things believed to be beautyfull on their own I'll pull people into my sphere by just not doing so.

You do know that Odeur 53 is >50% hedione (synth jasmine), and the rest is detergent aroma...a plain sailing of the most obvious kind. Maybe you hoped that no one would notice and that you try to slip in that 53 comment. Not so fast bubba... I am having fun here as well, Sherlock..

On the topic of subjective likes, you may think Odeur 53 smells fab and has a 'fantastic idea', but to me its nowhere near as slick or beautifully constructed as SMW, which is one of the finest aquatic creations ever.

On the topic of subjective likes, you may think Odeur 53 smells fab and has a 'fantastic idea', but to me its nowhere near as slick or beautifully constructed as SMW, which is one of the finest aquatic creations ever.

SMW- Ink and silverwear.... nuff said and its unique but not really the best to actually wear around... atleast not at my age.

When I first tsted SMW, it was way too sharp and synthetic, and too feminine....and it still is LOL, but there is alot about it I also like, all the things It has in common with MI really. I'm maybe 2-3 years older than you, and white/latino/middle eastern broads LOOOVE SMW. If i didn't get inordinate amounts of random pull from it, I wouldn't own it, as I personally find it too synthetic and slightly too femme. Windsor and Selection Verte are probably my two favorite Creeds. Followed by MI, GIT, & Green Valley.

And Op, I assume you tested Tabarome Millesime. The original Tabarome is the one which smells like some european-enlightenment-royalty type sh!t.

You do know that Odeur 53 is >50% hedione (synth jasmine), and the rest is detergent aroma...a plain sailing of the most obvious kind. Maybe you hoped that no one would notice and that you try to slip in that 53 comment. Not so fast bubba... I am having fun here as well, Sherlock..

On the topic of subjective likes, you may think Odeur 53 smells fab and has a 'fantastic idea', but to me its nowhere near as slick or beautifully constructed as SMW, which is one of the finest aquatic creations ever.

I didn't knew about that hedione thing. Accidentially I have a huge portion of pure hedione at home. Recently I tried to lift a certain flower of lesser interest with it. An other trial was to just combine the infamous ambroxan (metallic amber) with hedione, which attempt was doomed to fail. I'm on the way to generate my first "accord" using a seaside flower, helional and ambrox. I've got the proportions right from the start, but the development brings the helional to stink eventually. The "metal" of the aromas is highly appreciated. It goes perfectly with a very etherical, non camphorous lavender on top as a catchy start. Zzzing! So, the problem remains, that the intrisnically quite disharmonic helional in the very last third of the drydown has to be coupled to some other related stuff, read hay, algae, maybe even - tar!? Suggestions? Keep it basic.

The #53 is of a different kind. It uses may be hedione, but as the legend goes 52 additional materials what would be true to its name. A quite different plot as the argued 50% hedione plus none. An other subtext could be answered. If it is 50% hedione, the complicated stuff is deluted by that. Less of the true worthwhile composition. What if the concentration is doubled? Then we would have a 100% of 52 worthwhile parts plus an other 100% of hedione for free.

Regarding the Creed fragrances it was a quite strange experience of being pulled in the storyline of each one. The salty breeze and Rocky Mountains picture. The SA was as eager as I have never seen an SA before. Reason unknown, alas, issue not resolved. And I hope I'm allowed to write that again. I couldn't catch any plot on them. To be fair the Nassamoto offerings were as less satisfying too. They were more dense, creamy but I couldn't enjoy them an the long run, say 10 minutes. They are represented as icons and should be worn so. To me these fargrances are not much more than a badge saying: I spent big bucks on a frag!

Everybody is invited to crosscheck the Creed offerings against others for sheer personal likeing. Take whatever You want. I'm sure I will never ever identityfy a Creed on anybody else. Wharever the mesage of wearing a Creed may be, I will not be able read it which is for sure my personal fault. Proof given.

SMW is a beautiful fragrance, and my favorite Creed. The others are nice as well, but just not for me. I will also note that it's nearly impossible to truly experience a fragrance without wearing it on your skin for a while. I have completely changed my mind about many fragrances that I hated in the bottle but just smelled incredible mixed with my skin.

Of all the Creed fragrances, I only like about 6 of them and only 3 or 4 would compel me to purchase. This may or may not be a good "it's-a-winner" average in this business. Those that I consider "hits" are, in my opinion, wearable works of art. Genius stuff, I truly enjoy.

As a musical analogy; most music creators rarely make consistently appealing works. Out of 20 pieces of music generated, I may love only 4 of them.

I'm not a fanboy but seeing Creeds potential, just as in music, I can hope and wait for another hit.

Creed Creed Creed...i dont get it :-/ you slap a price tag of a king on it, say there's natural ingredients and its "the best stuff on earth (just got better!)" In my experience, a fragrance is a fragrance. My only experience with really "bad" one's have been cheap ones for like $10, other than that they all smell decent, not a "synthetic mess" or whatever the hell bloviation about how bad it is the more poetic of members comes up with (synthetic mess tickles my funny bone in particular for some reason).

Imo, you've gotta let go of all previous impressions, ideas, or whatever might influence you. I'm not the most experienced with smelling Creed, but of the one's i've smelled, NONE impressed me. EROLFA is the main culprit in particular. Smelled like a $10 pacsun cologne at first, then transitioned to god knows what herbs, to a musk/amber base (which DID last long, but i don't even consider generic musk or amber a note). Y'know what? it DID smell natural, it did smell high quality, but did it smell good? Quite simply no! You can record an album with the highest quality technology possible, but if the music sucks, the quality is irrelevant. I'd rather listen to a regular quality recording with a band playing their hearts out before i listen to an ultra-crisp, perfect recording by some chumps Universal Records picked up.

Maybe i just have tastes that don't dip into niche-land, maybe i just didn't like what i tried, or maybe who gives a damn! Just like what you like

More on topic, i'm glad i'm not alone with not liking EROLFA, i find it extremely mediocre and honestly kind of repulsive at times

I had really high expectations for the Creed fragrances, but when I tried them, I was somewhat disappointed. Millisime Imperial is nice, I will admit. It is easily my favorite. Very fresh. Original Santal I enjoyed too. And the SA insisted that Tabarome smelled great on me. I'm sure she says that to everyone though. But none of thier fragrances WOWED me. They were all okay...all wearable, but none except maybe MI really had my attention.

Creed is like any other house: some people like some of their fragrances, some may like a good portion, and some may not like any. As for me, the only fragrance I've liked enough to purchase from them is MI. From what you've mentioned Erolfa is boring, Himalaya is boring, Tabarome is just not my thing, and SMW was enjoyable. I may actually have to sample it again. From what I got out of Aventus I really wanna try that on skin as well.

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”
Karl, age 5

Creed Creed Creed...i dont get it :-/ you slap a price tag of a king on it, say there's natural ingredients and its "the best stuff on earth (just got better!)" In my experience, a fragrance is a fragrance. ...
More on topic, i'm glad i'm not alone with not liking EROLFA, i find it extremely mediocre and honestly kind of repulsive at times

Thank You for joining the pedestrians. An alternative to Erolfa could be Heeley Sel Maritime (ny far less expensive, too). I just received a sample with the mail. It develops quite promissing towards a seaside smell. A little bite of fishy rott is in it too, needless to say that this is essential. With Sel Maritime this bite resides in a small niche of the overall picture. Well done, again!

An other is Odeur #71. The sample is at once pleasant. But - strange. And then repulsive. Thrilling. It doesn't smell of or like anything, but it connects to something in my memories I have forgotten, a complete emotional picture, go figure! Rotting cherries? Craze. Compared to Odeur #53 - irish landscape - it has more of an oriental

If you like classic fragrances those were the wrong Creeds to try - and Creed obviously doesnt' make the kind of tongue-in-cheek modern that you seem to enjoy as well.

Sorry, without offence I'm through with Creed. I think I've got the whole picture. From it's vast discussion in the forum, some kind of guerilla advertising it is, passing by the eager SA in the shop to the olfactory belly-landing. I have my classics that I trust, and I just don't need any other. Now I want to fool around, that's right.

btw: You didn't answer the question if any Creed is originally made along an ancient recipe of let's say 1780+? From what would we know that? Sure? That would be the only case in which I'll look after that queer company again.

btw: You didn't answer the question if any Creed is originally made along an ancient recipe of let's say 1780+? From what would we know that? Sure? That would be the only case in which I'll look after that queer company again.

No, neither Creed, Farina 1709, Guerlain or any other perfume house use entirely genuine historical formulas & ingredients. You may find individual perfumers who do so for fun, but most will tell you that those ancient formulas were at best mediocre anyway. Enjoy your "53"

btw: You didn't answer the question if any Creed is originally made along an ancient recipe of let's say 1780+? From what would we know that? Sure? That would be the only case in which I'll look after that queer company again.

you drop the words "queer" and "pervert" in the strangest places. in fact i don't think i've understood one of your sentences in this thread. is english a second (or third or fourth) language for you? just wondering...

No, neither Creed, Farina 1709, Guerlain or any other perfume house use entirely genuine historical formulas & ingredients. You may find individual perfumers who do so for fun, but most will tell you that those ancient formulas were at best mediocre anyway. Enjoy your "53"

Thank You very much, I already do enjoy #53. I'm sorry that this has become a dead end. The idea of smelling of nothing in particular is quite appealing. It would have been real fun to alter that very concept. Different kinds of nothings - in particular as to say.

I know that this concept is the exact opposite to what Creed claims to be after. Despite from being traditional - even the infamous chypre referres to something distinctive, the ile in the med. sea - the concept of resembling natural odeurs or complete landscapes of such can go tremendously wrong. Proof given in here (seconded by my attempt to write Englich, sorry).

The whole Creed story, including the history issue is a marketing ploy. Same with Nausaeto prime line fraks. The Lubin Idole bored me right from the start, quite an engaged bottle, though. Finding something that is at least woth it's prize tag quatered is as hard as it gets. The best one can do is to remain playfull. Creed again rushes to the opposite direction, prizey and earnest, not my thing regardless the juice, which I accidentially don't like at all.